Last fall my fiancé and I purchased the vacant lot next door and have spent this year trying to make the two lots feel like one.

A few things we knew we wanted to do were tear all the “grass” out, have a rain garden, and build a retaining wall. Check, check & check! This is nearly native, aside from the Japanese maples that he planted when he first moved in 8 years ago. There are a few nativars, including a tulip tree cultivar that’s supposed to get to ~35ft because we cannot have a 100ft tree in this particular spot! It’s at least 80% straight species and I’m really proud of that.

I honestly don’t know how many native plugs we planted but this project took us all year. I wanted to share and I’ll share how it looks next year.

Noting: The bindweed is going to be the bane of our existence but we’re going to try the herbicide in a tube technique I saw on this sub next spring!

Hi all, I wanted to post this article I wrote about how some (admittedly few) HOAs are working to convert portions of lawn to native pollinator meadows, and trying to shift rules and residents' perceptions around ornamental vs. native plants:

https://www.lincolninst.edu/publications/land-lines-magazine/articles/overlooked-land-policy-juggernaut-controls-millions-acres-us-sustainability-hoas/

I was stunned to learn that HOAs control something like 4 million to 9 million acres of land in the US (!) -- and not often for the better. But there are some good resources out there for those that want to do better.

Thank you to some members of this sub for sharing your experiences trying to turn your HOAs into better stewards of the environment!

Hi all!

I've been trying to do research on companion plants to help make better yields of food crops. But the only research material I can find on the impacts of companion plants use European or Asian native species. A lot of sources online I find are also bad at explaining why the companion plants help, or flat out don't; they just list it and go on with their day. I've loved "Gardening with Companion Plants" (2023) by Linda Chalker-Scott to help me with that, but since I am not a botanist, I am unsure what native species could be used as a replacement for some plants mentioned in this paper.

The main plants I've been wanting to grow are tomatoes, peas, pumpkins, and strawberries with hopes on doing more research on kiwifruit before I buy anything to start them. The others I currently grow in pots with hopes to make a little caged off section I can transplant them to someday (rabbits have decimated anything I tried in the ground.)

I was happy to see a plant that volunteers itself in my yard, Common Purslane (Portulaca oleracea), is actually noted to be a great companion to tomatoes and strawberries as they both enjoy salty soils and the purslane is good at taking up additional salt and chloride. I am unsure on the nativity of purslane, but some studies have been saying it was here prior to the colonies arriving, so I guess time will tell! USDA says both?? How does that even work ;o;

But for other instances of companion plants, especially herbal-type companions, I would love to know if their cousin species can do the same tricks! Here are some I was curious about:

• Dill (Anethum graveolens), it shares a subfamily with Golden Alexander (Zizia aurea)
  • Its companion plant aid is said for "attracting natural aphids enemies to the garden", would Golden Alexander have this impact too? Both share the same subfamily Apioideae.
• French Marigold (Tagetes patula), it shares a tribe with the sunflower tribe (Heliantheae)
  • French Marigold are used to suppress weed growth with its allelopathy. Does the way in which marigold do this a trait of the whole tribe? Or would that be unique to its species in this case? I have heard of sunflower seeds having a bit of allelopathy to them.

Those are the main two I am looking for replacements for! Otherwise, I do know a lot of natives that help with protecting some heat-intolerant plants from shade (essentially just needs shallower roots and well covering leaves, which that's super easy to find replacements for!)

Additionally, I would love any warnings about potential natives too! I know the nightshade family can be a bit risky to be around, so don't worry I'm not about to replace potatoes with a dutura species. haha!

(I would also love recommendations on any berry natives I am missing out on! I am already planning a serviceberry and black cherry for the future 😄 I love super sweet fruits, I wish I liked blueberries more... 🥲)

Hi Folks,

What are some of your favorite taller (3 foot+) natives that you have experience with? Looking to create a living fence of sorts in an area of about 60'x10', full sun, medium to dry/sandy roadside soil, in western mass, zone 5b. This will be a buffer zone between the road and mini-orchard.

TIA!

Planted them back in April and finally bloomed on early October. So much diverse activity in the little strip I have compared to summer where it was a lot of flies and wasps

And these are just the guys I could get a half decent photo

I just wanted to share that there's going to be a native plant market in Lexington, MA this weekend October 17! https://grownativemass.org/Our-Programs/Calendar-of-Events/Our-First-Annual-Fall-Plant-Market I reached out and ordered a bunch of stuff for pickup from a few different nurseries.

Here's my list:

• Agastache scrophulariifolia
• Asclepias exaltata
• Asclepias tuberosa
• Cirsium discolor
• Eutrochium purpureum
• Housatonia caerulea
• Liatris novae-angliae
• Oenothera fruticosa
• Prunella vulgaris var. lanceolata
• Sisyrinchium angustifolium
• Solidago caesia
• Zizia aurea

I was super excited about the idea of just skipping from stall to stall to see what everyone has but when I checked it out online there's so much that I've never seen at the nurseries I've been to so I HAD to preorder haha. I'm hyped though because this fulfills all my current plant dreams (minus Castilleja coccinea, Rhododendron periclymenoides, and Kalmia latifolia).

Anybody else going to an autumn plant sale?

Have you found any? I’m particularly interested in perennials and shrubs for 6a.

Riverbank Grape grows everywhere around here (it's an aggressive native vine), but my neighbor and I agreed to let this one take over the chain-link fence between our houses. I think it looks incredible. Nobody can see this from the street, but I look at it all the time - I always forget that it turns a really striking pale yellow in the fall!

This species needs to be controlled a little (just cut the vines where you don't want them), but it works wonderfully on a fence like this!

Hello,

I am doing a whole yard planting and want to start my own plugs for the process. However, all advice online is about planting them. I see lots of people suggest the milk jugs but transferring them to standard plugs would take a lot of work, so I am just looking for advice on starting directly in plug trays. Do I just sow seeds on top of each plug, set outside in january, and keep watered? (I get winter here). Do I water at all? any advice appreciated and welcome!

I bought my home about a year ago and haven’t done much to the yard yet but would like to get some natives in there. My biggest issue is how exposed the whole yard feels, as it’s completely open to the back alley and my neighbor’s yard. I figure a couple of shrubs/shorter trees (highbush cranberry, red osier dogwood, and serviceberry are on my list of potentials) along the alley side would create enough privacy over there. But what do I do on my neighbor’s side? From what I’ve found so far, most native garden/hedge plans along property lines assume the presence of a fence, which I have no intention of installing. I get along with my neighbors fine, they just spend a lot of time on their deck and have a dog that barks when it sees me so I feel awkward hanging out outside. They are pretty meticulous about mowing their lawn, so I want anything I plant over there to be tidy and not go over the property line. 

Any suggestions for plants and where to put them? The yard is full sun, flat, and well-draining sandy loam. 

Hi all.

Curious how many of you put some protection around trees ranging from 2 gallon sizes to 15 gallon. I can imagine putting some wiring around if deer roam but would you bother for rabbits and other smaller critters? Does it depend on the tree?

For my scenario, I am planting 2 gallon to 15 gallon trees that are oaks, maples, red buds, serviceberrys, dogwood, eastern white cedars. About 100 are going up across a couple lots and just wondering what protection if any is recommended.

Thanks. Located in Toronto, Canada. Zone 6b

Hi all! New(ish) native gardener in Northeast Ohio looking for input on black tupelo vs. eastern redbud for a front yard spot. We're replacing a 50+ foot silver maple that caused problems in storms, so we're hoping for something sturdier and/or shorter this time around.

It's an east-facing yard, 35 feet from sidewalk to house, and we'll be planting roughly 25-30 ft from the house. Full sun, medium-moisture clay soil. We've already ruled out tulip tree, sweetgum, and oaks for various reasons. We have four serviceberries in the backyard already, so we're hoping for something different for the front.

From what I've read online, both black gum and redbud have pros and cons for a suburban yard. I'd love to hear real experiences with either! What you love, what you wish you'd known before planting, anything you regret.

Seriously- watched this kinglet, a dozen yellow rumped warblers and a palm warbler (first sighting on my property) enjoying it this afternoon.

Mine is on a fence and was a beautiful blazing red and now has lingering fruit for hungry birds starting migration.

it's mostly a joke, we're going on a walk and I'm going to strategically toss some seeds in planned locations, but I'm definitely going to pet him with a lot of random seeds still attached to my hands so we'll see what happens

I’m planning out my garden for next year. I have a small backyard with two black locusts (considered non native to NH). Because these trees provide shade, and every single shrub in my yard was horrible and invasive- I’m leaving them for now (also I am not prepared to deal with them). I’d like to plant a couple trees, with the idea that I’ll take out the locust trees in a few years once new trees have established. I’m also looking to replace the invasive honeysuckle and buckthorn. And as bird watching is the main reason to do this- I am frustrated that I had to remove this thicket that has provided a safe home for many despite being invasive.

What grows quickly to help establish this area back to a safe shelter for my birds?

My husband would like to add a sugar maple which I am open to but I know they are slow to grow so I would like another option that might grow faster.

So excited that my first-year garden has produced a small victory. I direct-seeded the milkweed this spring in my front yard where, as you can see, I continue to battle bermuda grass. A couple weeks ago I happened to notice a monarch as she paused to lay an egg and watched as this beauty got fatter and fatter. One day it was gone and I searched all the pots in the garden hoping to find a chrysalis but to no avail. Then when mowing the lawn I spotted it on the side of the garage, a trip of about 50 feet away, including crossing the driveway and turning a corner. I sleep late (thanks to working nights for the last decade of my career) so I missed the emergence but I want everyone to know it doesn't take much effort to make a difference.

I saved some Baptisia seed and am looking for species id help. Am I right in thinking the downward pointing pods on the left are australis?